A darker shade of blue
by Set
Summary: When a new color appears in the mines that Rainbow and the kids can't control a whole new destiny unfolds


Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, save Brandon, Cobalt, and Twilight. All other characters are owned by the hallmark corporation and whoever else animated the show. I know Dic animated the movie but I'm pretty sure a different animation house handled the series.  
  
Authors Note: For all intents and purposes let's just assume that Midnight Blue is the darkest possible color before hitting black okay? It might actually be, but I don't know for sure.  
  
Prologue  
  
Buddy Blue was resting in the section of the color cave which held the blue crystals. His morning jog through the Blue Zone of Rainbow Land had given him the feeling that something was wrong. A close inspection of the entire zone had shown nothing amiss, so his next stop was the caves. Luckily for Buddy his head sprite, Champ, had come with him on this particular jog, so they were able to go through the caves doubly fast, but still, nothing seemed out of place. Buddy was about to return back to the Color Castle when he heard Champ talking in the sprite language. "What is it Champ? Did you find something?" The sprite nodded and carried a handful of color crystals to Buddy. "Why are you bringing me regular blue color crystals Champ?" The sprite gave Buddy a stern look and the color kid looked closer. "Wait… these crystals look blue, but they aren't. They are darker. And now that I think about it, I can't feel these crystals like I can the others in the cave. That must have been why I missed them. Good thing I brought you with me Champ. Great Job!" The sprite jumped up and down and started to ramble in the sprite language. "Your right, we have to tell the other kids and Rainbow, let's go!" Buddy put the crystals in his pouch and they ran to the castle. Unbeknownst to both Champ and Buddy Blue was another in the cave.  
  
"It appears that the prophecy will indeed come true."  
  
Chapter One  
  
Brian hated being here. He hated being in this suit. He also hated being sad. But one really should not be happy at the funeral of a loved one, and Brian was at his cousin Brandon's funeral. Aside from Rainbow, the kids, and to a lesser extent Krys, Brandon was the best friend Brian had ever had. The two were born several days apart, with Brian being old then Brandon. He had always wanted to tell Brandon about Rainbow Land and everything he did with his other friends, but he couldn't. And now he never would. The funeral was not very big. Brandon was only eleven years old so he didn't really have many friends, mostly family attended. Brian refused to cry, refused to show any sign of weakness, and it was one of the hardest things he ever did in his life. Brian's father delivered the Eulogy and Brian had to leave the parlor because the combined sobbing of his mother, aunt, and grandmother would soon become to strong for him. It was raining outside. "Perfect, just perfect." Brian muttered to himself lightly. He wondered if Stormy was riding Skydancer, making the sky weep because he was too weak to do it himself. He would have to ask her the next time he saw her in Rainbow Land. He was sitting on the steps and letting the water softly hit his outfit. The door behind him opened and his father stepped out.  
  
"You shouldn't be out here son, you might catch a cold." Brian remained silent. "Look Brian, I know you are really mad at the world for taking your cousin away from us, but he's at a better place right now, trust me." Brain got up and ran into his fathers arms, shaking with emotion but still not crying. "Come on, they are doing the viewing of the casket." Brian nodded and took his fathers hand as they walked back inside. The people inside saw Brian walking down the aisle and they all parted, just like the red sea. He walked up to the casket and looked at Brandon, so peaceful. He wiped his nose and sniffled softly.  
  
"Why did you have to die Brandon? We had plans! We were going to go to the same college and stay in the dorms together, we were going to do everything together! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE!" Brian ran out of the building and the others saw him open the car door and seat in the back seat.  
  
"I think we should take him home." Brian's father said softly. Everyone else nodded and said goodbye as his mother and father slowly left the parlor and got into the car. Neither of them had anything to say the entire ride home. The only thing Brian thought about was how much he needed the companionship of his dog. Fate had other things planned however. As they were pulling up to the house Brian's father stopped the car prematurely and got out of the car. Brian heard his mother gasp and he looked at the window of the car.  
  
"Brian no, don't look!" His mother said. But it was too late. Brian could see the body of his dog on the road, lying motionless. He knew that his dog was dead. He screamed loudly and ran out of the car. His mother yelled out behind him, "Brian!"  
  
"Leave him be honey, he needs to be alone right now." Brian's father got back in the car and drove the few seconds it took to pull into the garage.  
  
Brian ran into his room and slammed the door hard. He screamed again, "DAMMIT!" Almost right after he said it he looked at himself in the mirror, did he just cuss? He never thought he would do that, but now was as fitting as any other time. He looked down into the dresser and instinctively opened the part that held the key. Brian held the key tightly in his hand as he opened his closet with it firmly in the keyhole, and waited for the rainbow to take him away.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
All of the color kids were eating breakfast inside the castle, even Moonglo and Nightsprite were there. Stormy was missing, of course, she wasn't a morning person and in the rare occasion that she did wake up in the morning she usually took Skydancer for a morning run in the clouds. Murky and Lurky had left the kids alone for a little under a month. They all enjoyed the time off from his schemes but they also knew that his worst plans came right after a dry spell, when it would break was anybodies guess. Violet was reading a book on quantum physics, Indigo was reading a Shakespearian play that Brian had given her as a present on his last visit, Red and Lala were enjoying a conversation with each other, Canary, Pink, and Patty were playing with Puppy and Kitty Brite, and Rainbow was congratulating Moonglo on the wonderful job she did the night before. They all jumped up when Buddy and Champ slammed open the castle doors and came running to the table. "Everyone, look at these!" Buddy gently placed the oddly colored crystals on the table and everyone gasped. "Any ideas?" Buddy asked softly.  
  
"It must be Murky's who did this!" Rainbow said with her hands firmly pushing on the tables' edge. "Look at them, they obviously aren't natural!"  
  
"Actually Rainbow," Violet began to say "even when Murky changed the complexion of the crystals in the cave he could only make them grey." Violet took a magnifying glass out of her belt and looked closer at the crystals. "I can see some blue in these, it is just very dark." Moonglo looked in the magnifying glass and gasped again. "What is it Moonglo? Do you know what they are?" Violet asked. Moonglo nodded.  
  
"These crystals are the exact same color of the night sky when it is at the darkest it can get. I believe the people on earth call it "Midnight Blue". What do you think Nightsprite?" Moonglo's closest friend and keeper of her crystals looked closely and then nodded in agreement.  
  
"But if they are blue, then why can't I feel them?" Buddy asked, puzzled.  
  
"Maybe I can feel them." Rainbow said as she placed a crystal in her hand and closed her eyes. "Nothing, I feel nothing." The kids all had glum looks on their faces, even Puppy and Kitty Brite lay their heads down in disappointment.  
  
"WAIT!" Indigo yelled. The other kids were taken back by the tone of the normally quiet color kid. "The prophecy, this has to be it!"  
  
"What prophecy?" Rainbow asked, obviously out of the loop.  
  
"A child, born of light, tainted with darkness… I can't remember the rest." Indigo said softly.  
  
"I can!" Patty said. "Will come to the land of colors and claim the one color that no one else can control."  
  
"The one color that no one else can control?" Pink asked. "But why can't we…" The remainder of her thought was interrupted by the untimely arrival of Stormy.  
  
"Stormy?" Rainbow said surprised, but not hostile. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Brian is on his way to Rainbow Land." She said.  
  
"And?" Rainbow asked. "Brian knows he is always welcome here whenever he wants. Besides, he hasn't been here for three weeks, I was beginning to miss him."  
  
"You don't understand Rainbow. Brian hasn't been here for a visit lately because his cousin just died. I was passing by Earth when I saw him outside some black building, alone. But that isn't all either, he was on his way home when he found that his dog died while they were at the black building." Stormy closed her eyes as the faintest of tears left them.  
  
"Poor Brian." Twink said sobbing.  
  
"Did someone say my name?" Everyone turned to the doorway and saw Brian standing there.  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Rainbow ran up to her dearest friend and hugged him hard. "Oh Brian, I'm so sorry!"  
  
"I guess you all know then…" He said softly. Brian tilted his head and saw Stormy leaning against the Color Console. "So it was you that made it rain?" She nodded.  
  
"I figured that I could help you express a feeling that you were obviously having trouble with, in the best way I possibly could." All the other kids were staring at the normally cold and distant Stormy. "Look, I may be a cynic but even I have a heart!"  
  
"Thanks Stormy, you really did help me by making it rain."  
  
"You are the only human that can see any of us Brian, that makes you a close friend. I always help my friends." Stormy looked the other way and saw the crystals on the table. "What are these?" She asked walking towards the crystals. "Did that old midget Murky get a hold of some more crystals?" Brian wondered what Stormy was looking at and walked over to the table.  
  
"Wow, midnight blue color crystals, neat." He put his hand out and as soon as his skin made contact with them the crystals shimmered.  
  
"Brian! What did you do?" Rainbow asked.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, all I did was touch them…" Brian touched them again and the effect repeated.  
  
"The child of light and darkness…" Violet said softly.  
  
"What are you talking about Violet?" Brian asked.  
  
"Perhaps I can explain what she is talking about child." All the heads turned as they heard a new voice. A sprite, the exact same color of the new crystals, stood in front of them. "But first I must introduce myself, I am called Cobalt."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Twink said. "Orin and I are the only sprites that can talk!"  
  
"Remember Twink, much like you were not born a white sprite, you were not born with the ability to speak. The keeper of all the colors in the universe did not know the language of sprites when she was summoned." Cobalt looked at Rainbow Brite, who softly nodded. "I too was taught how to speak because the child of whom the prophecy spoke of would not know the language of sprites either."  
  
"Why didn't we know about you Cobalt? Why didn't Orin tell us?" Buddy asked.  
  
"You were not meant to know of my existence until the prophecy came true. Even Krys did not know that I existed, only Orin knew."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Brain said. "What does all of this have to do with me?"  
  
"I was awaken because you ARE the child of light and darkness. The color of midnight blue is so close to black that only someone who feels both light and dark in their soul can claim it. The appointed Color Kids have not experienced any real darkness, a darkness that only death can bring."  
  
"Are you telling me that my dog and Brandon died for a reason?" Cobalt remained silent. "TELL ME!" Brian yelled.  
  
"In a way yes, in a way no." The sprite said. "Do you think it was a complete random occurrence that you met the people of Rainbow Land?" Now it was Brian's turn to stay quiet. "You are at the age where you can become a color kid, if you had not seen darkness in yourself until you were a teenager then you would not be able to have been awaken, and the midnight blue crystals would have stayed dormant, along with me."  
  
"So…" Violet spoke up, "You are saying that it was Brian's destiny to be born a human boy, and then become a color kid?"  
  
"And I get no choice in this?" Brian asked harshly. Cobalt shook his head.  
  
"If you did not wish this destiny upon yourself then it would never have happened. As soon as you met the residents of Rainbow Land you wished to be like them, be a Color Kid. That undying urge is what set the prophecy into action. However, you can still turn it down if you wish, in which case you will be erased of your memories of all these people, and they all memories of you. And I will go back into hiding for the next…"  
  
"And if I accept this destiny?"  
  
"All people on earth will lose their memory of you, but you will retain memories of them all. The choice is yours to make child." Brian ran up the stairs.  
  
"Brian!" Rainbow yelled and ran behind him, Stormy followed.  
  
"Well… this wasn't expected." Canary said softly.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Brian through himself on the bed of the guest room that was his second home and gently sobbed on the pillow. Why did all this happen to him? He never denied how much he loved being in Rainbow Land. Nor did he ever think for a second that being a Color Kid would be the neatest thing ever. But he never thought it would actually happen, and now that he had the chance to make his dream come true what does he do? He chokes.  
  
"Brian? Can I come in?" Rainbow asked. Brian stayed quiet and Rainbow walked in anyway. She sat at the edge of the bed and watched her best friend shake.  
  
"He isn't taking this very well is he?" Stormy asked.  
  
"Why are you here Stormy?" Rainbow pondered aloud.  
  
"Thought you could use the backup in case our "Child of light and dark" got a little unnerved, that is why I am here." Rainbow rolled her eyes.  
  
"Does he really think I can say no?" Brian asked, finally bring his head up from the pillow.  
  
"He gave you a choice Brian, you make the choice that you want to make."  
  
"But…" Brian started to say, sniffling.  
  
"Look Brian." Stormy interrupted sternly. "If you really think that you can't handle being a Color Kid then say no. Regardless of what you actually decide the people who are supposed to forget you won't really. You are too much fun to just forget." Brian smiled and wiped his nose with his hand.  
  
"There is nothing left for me on Earth, my parents will do fine without me. But I could never allow myself to forget any of you. I have to tell Cobalt yes. No, I WANT to tell Cobalt yes. Come on, let's go tell him." Brian got up from the bed and walked downstairs, Stormy and Rainbow followed.  
  
Cobalt was sitting at the table, and noticed that everyone was looking at him. Twink was not giving him the nicest of looks. "Does it really offend you that there is another sprite other than the sage that can speak?"  
  
"No, it offends me that you made Brian, who is a good friend of everyone here, run upstairs sad."  
  
"He didn't make me sad Twink." Brian said as he walked down the stairs. "He helped me accept my destiny, something I wouldn't have been able to do if he wasn't here."  
  
"So you've made your decision?" Cobalt asked.  
  
"I've decided to accept my path as a Color Kid." All the other kids smiled. "So what do I do now?"  
  
"Take your midnight blue crystals in one hand." Cobalt said as he dug out a midnight blue colored star pendant from his pouch. "And place this in the other hand." Cobalt placed the pendant in Brian's hand and stepped away from the table. "Now close your eyes." Brian did as Cobalt instructed and closed his eyes, clutching the items in their respective hands. A dark blue glow surrounded Brian, and almost as soon as it started, it was over. "You can open your eyes now Brian." Cobalt said happily. When Brian did Rainbow gasped.  
  
"Brian, your eyes…they've changed color!" She said astonished. Brian looked in the nearby mirror and saw that his once hazel eyes had become a deep blue.  
  
"I always wanted blue eyes anyway." He said smiling. All the others laughed.  
  
"You have accepted the destiny that was placed in front of you. Now allow me to present you with a present." Cobalt whistled outside of the castle and a horse neighed in the distance.  
  
"Is that Starlight?" Rainbow asked.  
  
"No." Cobalt said.  
  
"Is it Skydancer?" Stormy said.  
  
"No."  
  
"Is it Sunriser?" Pink wondered.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then who is it!" Brian demanded.  
  
"His name is Twilight, and he's your horse, color kid of midnight blue." Cobalt said as the horse stopped in front of the castle. He was the exact same color as Cobalt, and was the size of Skydancer. "This horse is of the same breed as Starlight, just many lines down, since he was frozen for many years before becoming Rainbows steed."  
  
"Why do I have a horse, Cobalt?" Brian asked.  
  
"Because you are in charge of the night now, one of the duties of the midnight blue Color Kid is to make the night come, much like it is Moonglo's duty to make the night sky beautiful."  
  
"Wait, the night always came before, why do I get stuck doing it now?"  
  
"Because before today there was no one who fit the job requirement, now there is. You will need to bring the night with your midnight blue crystals, if you do not then the night will never come. That is why you have a horse, you will need him to take you all around the world."  
  
"Umm… okay, I guess." Brian said as he walked up to his horse and began stroking his fur. "I hope I can do this."  
  
"You can Brian, we all know you can!" Buddy said happily, everyone else nodded and smiled. Well, almost everyone.  
  
"Oh look at the new pony Murky! Maybe he'll give me a ride!" Lurky said from behind the bushes.  
  
"Oh be quiet hose nose, you'll blow our cover!" Murky said as he threw a gas bomb out to the crowd, which exploded and knocked them all out. "My new and improved gloom sleep gas should keep those pesky kids out for hours! That will give us plenty of time to drain Rainbow Brat of her colors. Go grab her!" Murky laughed maniacally as Lurky grabbed her and tossed her in the Grungebuggy. "To the pits and quick!" Murky said as he jumped into the buggy before they sped off.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
"Brian! Wake up Brian!" Starlight nudged Brian, trying to wake him.  
  
"Starlight?" Brain said as he woke up.  
  
"Brain, why are your eyes blue?"  
  
"No time to explain, how long have we been out?"  
  
"About five minutes, I saw Murky take Rainbow to the pits, I thought I would wake you up since you aren't a color kid, and his powers have less of an effect on you then the rest of us." Brian thought to himself why he woke up before everyone else, he was a color kid now. Brian shook Cobalt and Twilight, who woke up. "Where did that sprite and horse come from?" Starlight asked.  
  
"Again, no time to explain, watch over the rest of the kids. I'm going to save Rainbow!" Brian jumped on his horse and helped Cobalt get up on Twilight's back. "To the pits Twilight!" Twilight ran as fast as his hooves could take him.  
  
"That horse is fast, but he's not nearly as fast as the most magnificent horse in the universe!" Starlight said boastfully. "I hope Brian can save Rainbow."  
  
Brian was thinking about how he would save Rainbow in the pits. None of the Color Kids had any power in the pits, but he had gotten up before any of the others. "Hey Cobalt?"  
  
"Yes Brian?"  
  
"Why was I able to get up before the other kids? Normally Murky uses gadgets that drain Color Kids for a lot longer then five minutes."  
  
"Since you are the kid of midnight blue I can only assume that the mix of light and dark gives you stronger resistance then the others." Brian nodded and looked forward again. Rainbow was tied up to a chair and Brian could see the colors of the Rainbow being drained from her into a compartment beside her.  
  
"There she is! Faster Twilight!" Brian's horse ran faster and within a minute they were face to face with Murky.  
  
"What are you doing here twerp?" Murky asked. "You might be better suited to save Rainbow then those annoying Color Kids, but you are still human!"  
  
"Oh really Murky? Still human?" Brain scoffed as he got off his horse.  
  
"Oh no, I'm shaking!" Murky said tauntingly.  
  
"Be careful Brian!" Cobalt said. Brian nodded and took the pendant off from around his neck and held it tightly.  
  
"Are you going to throw that at me?" Murky said laughing.  
  
"Not at you Murkface!" Brian said with a smile. Brian threw the pendant at the tube that was siphoning Rainbow's power, and the edges of the pendant severed it. "That was what I was aiming for!" The contained rainbow seeped out of its prison and back into its guardian.  
  
"You ruined my perfect plan!" Murky yelled. "This isn't over yet kid!" Murky ran further into the pits.  
  
"Wait for me Murky!" Lurky yelled from behind. "Goodbye Mr. New Horsy!" Brian looked at Rainbow who was waking up from the ordeal.  
  
"Brian?" She managed to weakly say.  
  
"I'm here Rainbow, I'll always be here."  
  
"Great job Brian." Cobalt said.  
  
"Thanks." Brian put the pendant back around his neck and untied Rainbow. "Let's go home." He helped Rainbow get on Twilight's back.  
  
"Is everyone else okay Brian?"  
  
"Yeah, everyone else is fine Rainbow."  
  
"When we get back we need to install your color into the Color Console."  
  
"That would probably be best." Brian said looking back and smilingly. "So do you want to come with me on my first nights duty later?" He asked.  
  
"I'd love to." Rainbow said as she placed her head on Brian's back. He chuckled softly to himself. He didn't know what the future held for him or what he left behind when he accepted his destiny as a color kid, but at least he was with the people he cared about most.  
  
It's a done! Please Review too =) 


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